Myth: Lesha Origin
Lesha was a child born of a trickery and rape. Her father, Rhulic, stole the child, Arza from her mother, Amara, in the hopes of creating a child of his own. As the lord of the Undead, Rhulic could not beget any child through normal means and only through the womb of the Great Mother could he hope to find the pleasures of a child. Rhulic stole the Grass Maiden away to his darkened cave and threatened to steal her life unless Amara would give him a child of his own. Amara knew that if her brother Gorm knew of the theft that there would be war amongst the Gods so she disguised herself and traveled to the cave where Rhulic had built himself a temple to undeath. The tunnels that lead to the cave were twisted and misleading - designed to confuse any who would invade his domain. Creatures who were once alive and beautiful had been raised from the dead to serve him as his guards. Eventually she found her way down to his chambers and saw that Arza had been locked away in a cage of bone. Rhulic demanded that she create for him a child of his own. In exchange he would release her daughter but if she refused he would claim Arza as his prize. Amara Took a single tear from the Lord of the Undead and left to create the child and promised to return quickly so that she could save her captured daughter from the bone prison. When she arrived at her domain, another of her daughters, Henna, was there waiting for her with a message from her brother, Gorm. Amara ushered her away without hearing the message so that she could figure out a way to save her daughter without giving another daughter away to Rhulic. She didn't have much time but came up with a plan. She found a gourd and wrapped it in her cloak and asked Henna, her first daughter, to carry her down to Rhulic's cave on a white horse that her uncle, Gorm had made for her. When they arrived at the tunnel, Amara told Henna to wait for her and she disappeared inside. She returned and held what appeared to be an infant swaddled in her own blue cloak. She gave it to Rhulic as his child and demanded that he release Arza. Rhulic refused to accept the child until it was given a proper name so that it could take its place as a God. He would not release the Grass Maiden until Amara returned from Gizad - the Name Giver - with one. Amara had already guessed that the Lord of the Undead would make such a request and so had a name ready for him, Lesha. She placed the bundle on the floor at his instruction and moved away so that she could get to the cage. Rhulic left his skeletal throne and seized the bundle from the ground and howled in rage. He had discovered the trick just as she was able to open the cage. Rhulic dove at the Mother and slashed his dagger at her belly. She evaded but wasn't able to reach back into the cave to grab the child. Henna was never very good at doing what she was told. As soon as her mother started into the tunnel she wrapped darkness itself around her as a cloak and crept along behind her. As soon as she saw her mother fighting with Rhulic, she slipped into the cage and grabbed her sister and started back up the tunnels. Amara noticed the movement of shadows and could sense the presence of her other daughter in a way in which mothers always know. He continued his attack and she fled up the tunnels out of Rhulic's cave making him believe that she was being driven out. As soon as she ran out of the tunnel and jumped on Henna's white horse, Rhulic saw Henna throw back the illusory cloak of shadows as she held the tiny form of Arza in her arm. The undead lord bent to pick a bone from the many that littered the entrance to his tunnels and pointed it at Amara. Arms broke through the surface of the ground and clawed at Amara's feet - clamping down to prevent her from leaving. The Blue Mother screamed for Henna to take Arza and run for help. The white horse kicked at the many hands reaching for its feet but could not escape the circle of the curse. Amara touched the sides of the horse and gave to it the long, elegant wings of a swan so that it could fly. Henna grabbed its mane with one hand and held her sister close as the horse jumped into the air and flew back to Grandfather Mountain. With her two daughters now safe, Amara turned to face Rhulic. The Lord of the Undead would have his child one way or another. His servants shambled out of the tunnel and grabbed the Blue Mother and carried her back to his cave below. There Rhulic bound her to his altar and raped her in ways that only a god could understand. When he was done, he returned to his skeletal throne and waited for his child to be born. Amara screamed in pain as the thing began to grow inside her. It grew and grew until her stomach could no longer hold it and it broke free in a bloody mess. It was no child but a fully-grown woman. Her skin was ashen grey and her features were gaunt and sallow as though she had been suffering from some wasting disease. She had the face of a women who had lived far beyond her years and was simply holding onto life by a thread. The old crone walked with a stoop and took the swaddling cloth where her ‘father’ had dropped it. As soon as she touched the blue fabric a black stain covered ever thread until it was as black as soot. The edges were freyed and vermin began crawling through its warp and weft as she wrapped herself within it. She looked once upon her mother who was lying bleeding on the table and turned her face away to cover it with the gourd that once was in the cloak. Rhulic called her daughter and bade her come to him but she simple turned and headed out through the tunnels unwilling to look upon the face of her father and unable to let her beautiful mother, Amara, look upon her own withered visage. . Category:Myth